of syracuse



"May 18 1926. C. S. JENNINGS INDICATINGARRANGEMENT FQR PNEUMATIC TUBE CARRIERS Filed March 18 1 925 Patented May 18, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- CHESTER S. JENNINGS, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE LAMSON COM- IPANY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK,

A CORPORATION- OF MASSACHUSETTS.

INDICATING ARRANGEMENT FOR PNEUMATIC-TUBE CARRIERS.

Application filed Hatch 18, 1925. Serial No. 16,879.

This invention relates to pneumatic tube carriers and more particularly to indicating I arrangements for such carrierswhereby the station from which they are transmitted or to which it is intended they shall be de-.

' livered may be designated.

In despatch systems of the simpler type it is common to provide a central station and a series of outlying stations with means for conveying the carriers from the outlying stations to the central station and for returning them to the particular outlying station from which they are received. Analogous conditions exist in the case of more complex systems. Under such circumstances it is desirable to provide the carriers with readily adjustable means to enable the identification of the sender or station. Various efforts have been made to provide a. successful arrangement of this type and it has heretofore been deemed necessary to resort to definite interlocking arrangements in order to obtain a device which will stand up for an extended period, for the wear and tear upon the car:

riers and the hanging of them together relatively soon causes such looseness of the parts that the identifying means will not maintain the setting given it for the interval between despatch' and receipt.

Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of an improved indicating arrangement for pneumatic tube carriers, in which without the use of mechanical interlocking arrangements an indicator may be effectively held in adjusted position while yet remaining readily adjustable. A further object is the provision of an improved arrangement in which the force acting to se cure the parts of the indicating arrangement 40 in adjusted relation to each other acts in a direction axially of the. carrier so that any enlargement of the parts due to banging of v the carriers in use will be in a direction at right angles to the force and so without effect on the security with which the relative positions are maintained.

In one aspect the invention comprises the provision of indicating means including in relatively angularly movable relation to each other an indicator member and a series of characters, and means acting transversely of the plane of relative angular movement to hold the parts in adjusted position. In another and more specific aspect the invention direction of the holding j may deslgnate the station comprises the provision of an adjustableindicator member having a portion lying in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the carrier tube and acted on by frictional holding means.

In the accompanying drawings in which one illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed, I

Fig. 1 is a side elevation partly in vertical section, of a carrier in which the invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a. plan view of the carrier shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an axial section on an enlarged scale, taken on the 'line 33 of Fig. 2,

through a portion of the upper end of the carrier;

, Fig. l is a view to smaller scale, showing the parts as illustrated in Fig. 3 but before assembly; and

Fig. 5 is an end view of the outer carrier section or casing.

The carrier herein shown consists of an inner cylindrical casing 1 and an outer cylindrical casing 2, the former being fitted within the latter and the two casings being adapted. for limited relative rotary movement. The inner casing 1 is connected to the lower felt covered head 3 and the outer casing 2 is connected to the upper felt covered head 4: so that by grasping the heads 3 and 4, one with each hand, the casings may be turned relatively to each other to open and close the carrier. The inner casing 1 is provided with an opening, not shown, and theouter casing 2 is provided with a similar opening 5. These openings are out of alignment when the carrier is shut, but are adapted tobe brought into registry with each other to open the carrier when the two casings are relatively rotated. The upper end of the outer casing element 2 is closed, but perforated by spaced openings 6 for a purpose shortly to be described.

The outer peripheral surface of the casing member 2 is provided with a series of indicia A, etc. which maytake the form of any desired characters and serve, for example, to designate the station to 'which the carrier is to be delivered at the end of its transmission through the tube, or which from which the carrier was sent to a. central station such as a cashiers desk. To designate the characters desired. a sleeve 7 h ving a. indo 8 therethe diameter of the opening 10 and having holes 14 located correspondingly with the metallic thimble 23 fits.

openings 6 and 12 fits inside the opening 10 when the parts are assembled. Adjacent to the inner side of the head 4 is a leather packing washer l6, perforated at 17 in a manner similar to the discs 11 and 13. Bet-ween the washer 16 and the top of the flange 9 is arranged a fibre friction disc 20 through which holes 21 are formed. The head 4 has a central recess 22 in its outer side into which a Through aligned holes 24 in the thimble and 25 in the head a pair of screws 26 are passed to secure the parts in assembled relation. The screws 26 are threaded into a double nut member 27. VVhen the parts described are assembled the discs 11, 13 and 20 and the washer 16 are securely held against rotation with respect to the casing element 2 and the head member 4 by the screws 26. The flange 9 is then frictionally' engaged at its inside by the metal disc 11 and at its outside by the fibre friction disc 20. Accordingly the ring 7 will be frictionally held in any adjusted position and radial enlargement of the ring due to hanging of the carriers together will not result in any harmful loosening of the ring. It will be observed that the ring is held against rotation by means acting, thereon in a direction axial to the carrier and that effective locking is secured without'the aid of sliding plungers, latch means, or springs. The washer 16 acts to provide a closer seal between the walls of the'pneumatic tubes and the carrier and also provides a certain slight resiliency which improves the action of the friction disc 20 upon the flange 9.

While there is herein described one form which the invention may assume in practice and which will very effectively fulfill the objects of the invention, it will be understood that the invention may be modified or embodied in other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Acarrier for pneumatic despatch systems comprising a substantiall cylindrical casing having a head at one en a rotatable band surrounding the casin one of said parts carrying a plurality 0 marks or distinctive index oharactensticsthereon and I the other having means for indicating the p fic characte istics or ma s des nd.

. tems having a formed to means permanently fixed relatively to the head of the carrier and arranged to act on saidband in a direction axially of said carrier to hold said band in adjusted position.

2. A carrier for pneumatic despatch systems comprising a substantially cylindrical casing having a head at one end, a rotatable band surrounding the casing, one of said elements having a plurality of marks or distinctive index characteristics thereon and the other having means for indicating the specific characteristics or marks desired, and a friction element fixedly secured to the casing and acting on said band in a direction axial of said carrier to hold said band in different adjusted positions.

3. A carrier for pneumatic despatch systems having'a series of marks or characters thereon in combination with a rotatable band surrounding the carrier and provided with means for indicating particular characters or marks, said band having surfaces lying in planes perpendicular to the axis of said carrier, and means engaging said carrier and frictionally engaging said surfaces to hold said band in different adjusted positions.

4. A carrier for pneumatic despatch sys tems having a substantially cylindrical casing with a series of marks or characters thereon in combination with a rotatable band surrounding the carrier and provided with means for indicating certain of said characters or marks, annular projection lying in a plane perpendicular to the axis of said carrier, and means including a disk of friction material and a metallic disk respectively engaging the opposite surfaces of said projection to hold said band against rotation, and means for tightening said disks together.

5. A carrier for pneumatic despatch sysseries of marks or characters arranged in an annular series thereon in combination with a relatively rotatable band surrounding'said carrier and comprising a radial annular flange and a cylindrical flange, thev cylindrical flange having provision for designating a selected character or mark of said series, and means acting in an axial direction on said radially directed flange to hold said band in adjusted position.

6. A carrier for tems having a series of marks or characters arranged in an annular series thereon, in

radial annular flange and with a cylindrical flange, said cylindrical flange being designate selected characters or marks, and means acting in an axial'direction on said radially directed flange to hold said band in different adjusted positions'inpneumatic despatch sys "combination witha rotatable band surrounding said carrier and provided with a elud g m n g g g, he pposite sides of said radially directed flange to hold said band against rotation.

7. A carrier for pneumatic despatch systems having a series of marks or characters arranged in an annular series'thereon, in combination with a rotatable band surrounding said carrier and provided With a radially extending annular flange and with a cylindrical flange, said cylindrical flange having a window for exhibiting a selected character or mark of said series, and means lncluding a friction disk coaxial with said band and acting on the radially extending flange thereof frictionally to hold said band in different adjusted positions.

8. A carrier for pneumatic despatch systems comprising'a hollow casing provided with a head at one of its ends, said casing having aseries of marks or characters thereon, in combination with a rotatable element provided with means for indicating any selected character or mark of. the series, and means for frictionally holding said element in diilerent adjusted positions including a friction element interposed between the head and the end of the casing and pressed axially of said carrier into engagement with said rotatable element.

9. A carrier for pneumatic despatch systems having a series of marks or characters arranged in an annular series thereon, a rotatable band surrounding said carrier and having radial and-cylindrical portions, the latter provided with means to designate se-' lected characters or marks, a friction member stationary with respect to said carrier engaging said radial portion, and means for CHESTER S. JENNINGS.

between said head and 

